The present disclosed subject matter relates generally to animal processing, and more specifically to an apparatus and method of partially separating the tissue from the skeletal structure of a bird during processing.
Automation of animal processing lowers the cost of food products for consumers. Automation of the process is accomplished by use of machinery that transport animal carcasses through processing stations, mechanically positions the carcasses, and mechanically removes wanted and unwanted tissues. Wanted tissues include the muscle tissue of the animal which is purchased by consumers. Eviscerated animal carcasses often undergo additional processing in order to separate the wanted tissues of the animal from the carcass for sale to consumers. Although it is advantageous to automate as many steps as possible during processing of the animal carcass, for some steps it is desirable to manually process the carcass in order to maximize the yield of the tissue harvested from the animal or to avoid the introduction of unwanted skeletal material into the harvested tissue.